


Ask

by KPRC8N



Category: STARLIGHT - Fandom, VIXX
Genre: M/M, One Shot, prompted, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 13:16:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16787683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KPRC8N/pseuds/KPRC8N
Summary: Hakyeon is prompted to ask Taekwoon something important when he witnesses the effects of Taekwoon's nightmare.





	Ask

**Author's Note:**

> i asked for single-word prompts on my IG story earlier this year and received about 20 prompts. this time around, instead of using them in order, i chose words randomly and just let the word prompt me every new scene or beat - or when my train of thought was drying up! i really liked doing it this way, because the story didn't reveal itself before i started writing. however, despite the fact that the words were random, the story or narrative had come to me pretty much after the first or second word. 
> 
> it was natural this was going a be a Neo with Hongbin in the mix from taking a glance at all the words overall, but other than that, the premise of N wanting to ask Leo something important, was what this became about after i started.
> 
> (published elsewhere before this)

Action

Hakyeon felt that he was normally a man of action. Yes, he did like to take time to contemplate, to indulge his hobbies that were manual expressions of his sensitivities, and to rest in the quiet of a peaceful home. 

But when it came time to get something done, he didn’t like to leave it too long.

And it wasn’t just about ticking off tasks on a to-do list, or finishing projects, or completing schedules - it also pertained to matters of the heart.

So when he sensed that there was something, some issue, hanging in the air between him and someone else… he didn’t hesitate to handle it. He wanted never to leave things unresolved between family, or colleagues. Friends.

Dream

Taekwoon awoke from a dream that left his heart heavy. He peered at the doorway to his room, sure that someone had come in and looked in on him at some point during the night. Or was that something he had dreamed?

He sat up, sheets trailing on to the floor, and spent an irritable few moments trying to gather them up onto the bed again.

He remembered feeling warm, wrapped up and lying in a deep sleep, before waking up to see himself lying in a bed of skins, reptilian and cold - in his dream. He had been afraid, revolted. He had wanted to leave, but it felt cold and frightening outside of the embrace of his strange bedding.

The saddening feeling came from knowing that he would rather stay in the comfort of those cold skins than to give in to the feelings of disgust they inspired in him, and leave their security.

It was after that that he had sensed his bedroom door opening, and, partially within the story of his dream, and partially as himself here in his room, he had lifted his head and trained his eyes into the darkness to try to see who was there.

Neo

Hakyeon was at the kitchen counter preparing himself a tea before breakfast when he heard one of the bedroom doors open and the sounds of shuffling feet heading to the bathroom. He frowned, knowing that there was a conversation coming that he wanted to get over with before lunch.

He didn’t think he could handle his nerves for any longer than that. It had to be done today.

He also realised that, even though this pertained to something recent, there were pervasive feelings and thoughts that carried over from longer than that.

The issue of how things played out between Neo on camera. On stage. At home.

Coins

Hongbin had already cleared his sleeping pallet from the centre of his room when he heard Hakyeon’s door open early in the morning. He had spent a few minutes surveying the floor as he stretched on its bare emptiness, checking for strays of anything: hair, dust, lint.

Whilst he wasn’t that fussy about it, he liked looking for it and then getting to it - it was the kind of thing that would weigh on his mind if he didn’t do anything about it before too long. 

Cleaning his room and seeing the bare lines of its emptiness soothed him. 

He felt the residual warmth of his sleeping space on the floor as he laid his back out against its hardness, relishing the way its inflexibility made his body work differently, pulling on muscles that even his thin mattress wouldn’t test. He needed the floor’s stubborn immovability. It woke those muscles of his up, made him feel those easily-forgotten feelings that his place was in the world, and not, as he could sometimes lead himself to believe, that the world was in place for him.

He thought of life as a thin stream of coins, one’s fortune in life if you will, that never stopped. Sometimes they were copper, sometimes silver, sometimes, gold. No matter how long a streak of plain old copper could be, it never stopped flowing.

Thus, he believed that, every moment in life was a gift, no matter how hard one had to work to accept it as such.

And today… Today he could sense a long stretch of copper turning into gold.

Food

Taekwoon, washed and awake, loped into the kitchen, wondering if Hakyeon had prepared any food for breakfast. He glanced at him, seated neatly at one end of their long sofa in the living area , his legs folded under him as he stared out of their balcony sliding doors at the view of the Han river beyond.

He sensed that Hakyeon was preoccupied, from the slight smile on his lips. It was a face he recognised, a mask of indifference that told him there was something going on behind those blank eyes.

“Did you look in on me last night?” he mumbled as he opened the fridge. The kitchen island was bare, and there was nothing on the stove. It seemed that breakfast was going to be some sort of instant beverage. He shut the door and went to a cupboard to check out his choices.

“You were snuffling,” Hakyeon said from his perch, barely moving.

“Like a little piggy,” Hongbin said cheerfully as he swept into the kitchen, bumping Leo against the counter as he pushed past to get to the rice cooker on the far side of him.

“I had a dream,” Taekwoon said, eyeing Hongbin as he bent to open a cupboard under the counter. 

“You sounded like you were choking,” Hakyeon murmured, taking a sip of his hot tea.

“I thought it sounded a little more X-rated than that,” Hongbin joked cheerfully, pulling out a large bag of rice. He looked at Taekwoon and burst out laughing at the expression of hope on his face.

“Yes, Hyung, I am cooking rice,” he chuckled.

“Ah, good Hongbin. Clever Hongbin,” Taekwoon said quietly, clapping Hongbin on the shoulder.

“You should still have breakfast, it will take a while to prepare,” Hakyeon called from the living room, his voice a tad irritable. They looked at him in surprise.

“Ah yeah, your inner Blood Sugar Monster may rise,” Hongbin teased.

Taekwoon nodded, emptying a random packet of a multigrain drink out into a mug and pouring himself some hot water for it. He stirred it carefully, bringing it to the island counter between the kitchen and the living area.

“It was a sad dream, but I don’t remember… snuffling,” he laughed a little, watching the powder in his drink dissolving.

Finally, Hakyeon looked at him.

“You were crying. Sobbing.”

Taekwoon looked up at him in surprise. Had he been? He didn’t remember that in his dream.

Hakyeon kept his eyes on him, waiting. He seemed to find nothing that he was looking for, and turned back to look out the window, his face back to blank.

Washing Machine

Hakyeon listened vaguely to the voices coming from the kitchen, the gentle lilting sounds of Taekwoon speaking, and the raspier, sunnier tones of Hongbin teasing. He heard it going on through the cloud of thoughts swirling in his head. He felt a little anxious. It felt like those moments before a washing machine began rattling because of an unbalanced load. You could sense it, hear it coming, but it still didn’t prepare you for the fright it gave you when it went out of control. Hakyeon could feel that moment coming.

Although he sat so still, and although the vista of the river and the glinting sunlight on it soothed him, he felt his emotions running high.

Taekwoon had sensed him looking in on him, but was not aware of the effects that the nightmare he seemed to have had, had on him.

It was a nightmare, Hakyeon was sure of it.

He had gone to Taekwoon’s room after hearing him cry out. 

At first, when he had called to see if he was okay and gotten no answer, he had stilled for a moment in his bed, and listened for any more sound, meaning to settle back into reading his book if all was well. But then, he thought he heard him moan, and whilst he had heard all sorts living in this dorm with the others, he had never known Taekwoon to do that. 

Alarm bells went off in his head when he realised that they weren’t moans, but sobs.

Taekwoon was crying, like a child.

He sprang out of bed and rounded the corner of his open bedroom door into the hall, only to see Hongbin down the far end stick his head out of his own room with a perplexed expression on his face.

He ignored him and went to open Taekwoon’s door.

The light from the hallway spilled into the room and Hakyeon saw Taekwoon lift his head and squint at him from deep within his covers.

His face was glistening with tears.

“Are you alright?” Hakyeon asked gently, afraid that something really awful had happened.

Taekwoon stared at him with unseeing eyes. It was unnerving. Hakyeon realised he may still be asleep, or dreaming.

“Go back to sleep, it’s just a dream,” he said softly, wondering if he should step inside to tuck him back into bed.

Hakyeon stopped that train of thought. Taekwoon was not awake, and it didn’t feel right to go into his space like that. Aware that Hongbin was still waiting at his own door, he spoke louder.

“Taekwoon? You’re dreaming. Do you hear me? Lie down and go back to sleep.”

Taekwoon seemed to look at him with a mixture of confusion and hurt. Hakyeon frowned. Then suddenly, he lay back and wrapped his sheets tighter around himself. Relaxing, Hakyeon slowly and quietly pulled the door shut.

But not before he heard Taekwoon say in a soft, soft voice, “You’re leaving me too”

Taken aback, he locked eyes with Hongbin, who registered his expression and raised his eyebrows.

“Is he okay, Hyung?” he asked. Hakyeon schooled his expression, softening into a smile. He turned to go back to his room before he could betray any more of himself.

“Just a nightmare.”

Chef

Hakyeon watched the show Taekwoon had put on the tv, some international chef getting creative over a hot stove with a mishmash of ingredients. 

In the kitchen, Hongbin was pulling out chilled side dishes from the fridge, opening and closing food containers and placing servings of them methodically into smaller bowls and dishes before setting them on the wide island that was going to be their table. The sound of the fridge door opening, plates and cutlery clinking, and Hongbin’s random cries of surprise and pleasure at the different foods all of their mothers has left with them, were giving him more satisfaction than the sounds of the host on the tv.

He glanced at Taekwoon, who was lying at the other end of the sofa, his head resting on its arm, his long body folded up into itself. He looked cramped, so Hakyeon pulled on his be-socked feet and gestured for him to stretch out.

Taekwoon did so immediately, sliding onto his back so that both his feet and calves could rest comfortably over Hakyeon’s crossed legs. Hakyeon unfolded his legs so that Taekwoon’s could lie evenly over his lap.

Taekwoon barely glanced in his direction, craning his neck so that his view of the tv remained undisturbed. Hakyeon breathed in deeply, feeling the weight of Taekwoon’s lower legs settling heavier and heavier onto his.

He felt annoyed with Taekwoon for taking this comfort at his expense for granted.

He also liked the deadweight of Taekwoon’s indifferent and ungrateful calves on his lap.

He sighed, looking over at the kitchen as he placed his now empty mug on the side table near him.

Hongbin was leaning right over the counter, his head in both hands as he watched them - or more specifically, watched Hakyeon.

“Is the food ready?” Hakyeon asked, startled.

“No. Still waiting for the rice,” Hongbin smiled excitedly, his dimples practically alight.

“What?” Hakyeon asked.

“Nothing,” he answered quickly, turning to look at the rice cooker, as if it had spoken to him instead.

Murder

Hakyeon looked down at the spread on the kitchen island as Hongbin set the steaming hot rice on to a folded up towel. He was pleased by the orderly, but abundant table his junior had set.

“Thank you Hongbin, I appreciate it,” he murmured, as he sat and took a moment to peer at the dishes. Most were cold, but some were hot, albeit reheated in the microwave. These delicious tastes coupled with the steaming hot rice would always be his favourite way to eat.

“Thank our ever-productive mothers. I am just an assembler of good food,” Hongbin sat opposite and grasped his metal chopsticks. Taekwoon had come to stand to their side, and picked up rice bowls to serve the rice.

“The rice is well-cooked. Clever Hongbin,” he said, spooning out a serving and setting it in front of Hakyeon. Hongbin laughed.

“Second time you have called me clever today, Hyung,” he said.

“Child, it is a direct consequence of feeding his stomach,” Hakyeon said, dryly.

“I am a simple creature,” Taekwoon replied with a soft smile.

“Yes,” Hakyeon murmured, pointedly. He watched Taekwoon a moment longer, then bent his head to smell the scent of the rice. Hongbin looked between him and Taekwoon, wondering how Taekwoon seemed to be oblivious to Hakyeon’s surly, albeit sedate, moodiness.

“Uh… Hyung, tell us about your dream,” he asked, placing a small bowl of clear soup in front of Hakyeon.

“Oh, my dream. I don’t know… it was… like I knew I wasn’t in a good place, but I didn’t want to leave it.”

“What, like a crappy hotel?” Hongbin joked, before glancing at Hakyeon.

Hakyeon ate silently, his neat spoonfuls brought neatly to his neat mouth. 

Whilst he seemed calm enough, Hongbin thought he looked like he was going to murder his bowl. 

Taekwoon continued.

“Like, a feeling. I was warm and safe, but when I looked around me, it wasn’t a nice place. But I couldn’t bring myself to leave it, even though I hated it.”

“You were crying,” Hakyeon muttered. Taekwoon finally sat down with his own bowl of rice, shaking his head.

“No, I was just… too comfortable to move.”

“You were crying, Taekwoon,” Hakyeon said, putting down his chopsticks and staring down into his bowl.

Taekwoon looked at him, finally, his shoulders sagging as he realised that Hakyeon wasn’t going to look back at him. He nodded.

“I woke up sad. I still don’t know why.”

Cuddles

Hakyeon left the table, allowing Hongbin to shoo him away after he had made some half-hearted overtures to clean up. Hongbin instead dragged Taekwoon to the sink and made him wash the dishes.

“Make use of those arms,” he had grumbled, transferring the used dishes from the island to the counter space beside the sink. 

“Oh, good job,” Hakyeon heard him say, ostensibly because Taekwoon, surprisingly, always responded to menial and manual tasks with diligence and ease. Rather like a child, happy with work.

Hakyeon shut the door to his room and sat on the end of his bed. 

He had wanted to say, Well anyone who says “You’re leaving me too” would be sad, but he couldn’t, of course.

His plans to speak to Taekwoon had been undermined by the business of the meal, by Hongbin’s presence… and by Taekwoon’s seeming obtuseness.

He didn’t seem to realise Hakyeon was reaching for him.

Hakyeon lay back on the bed, then turned to lay on his side. His full stomach made it a little uncomfortable, but he soon adjusted and felt his body begin to rest heavy, slumberous.

He thought of a time before this, when laying on his bed meant cuddles, because his door was always open and he had made it clear that anyone could have one at any given time.

Hakyeon sighed. In his naive young Leader Self, he had thought that that was enough to bring anyone with a problem to him - but it wasn’t.

Not everyone liked the idea, and not everyone who wanted a cuddle, or an ear, or support, or advice or even admonishment, would come willingly to get it.

He had realised soon enough, that if he wanted to be a source of comfort to someone, he had to go looking for them to comfort. And then he had to see if it was alright to move in with physical expressions of support, or friendship. Or love.

At some point, he had realised he was exhausting himself watching out for anyone needing him - and that maybe it wasn’t any of his business anyway.

And somehow, it had clicked: his desire to be a source of comfort to others, had been uncovered as a desire to be comforted by their need for him, instead. That he too, had needs.

Which was around the time he started closing his bedroom door, like everyone else.

Sassy

Hongbin wiped and put away the last handful of cutlery, then shut the drawer happily. He spread the kitchen towel out wide, draping it over the still-warm rice cooker, to dry.

“So do you still feel sad, Hyung, now that you are well-fed?” he smiled, fetching himself a glass for some water.

“I am sad because breakfast is over, and everyone seems to think it was also lunch,” Taekwoon mumbled from the sofa. He was stretched out again, but because there was no Hakyeon, he had flipped onto his front, and was now drooling into the cushions as he stared at some football match on the tv.

“It will be dinnertime before you know it,” Hongbin said placatingly, as he filled up his glass with some warm water.

He watched Taekwoon over the rim of his glass as he drank, knowing that Hakyeon had been waiting for a good moment to speak to Taekwoon, and that, for all intents and purposes, would have by now if he hadn’t gone and made a meal for everyone.

Hongbin sighed and put his glass in the sink. He should let Hakyeon have his opportunity.

“Hyung, I am off to rehearsals. Could you check in on Hyung to make sure he hasn’t slept? He will come in later, and then you are on for the evening session.”

“I can’t check in on Hakyeon, the sofa and I are one,” Taekwoon mouthed his words against the cushion cover.

“I will see you later!” Hongbin said cheerily, disappearing into the hallway that lead to the front door. There, a built in shelf held all the things like bags and jackets and wallets that everyone dumped there when they came in from their day. He collected his backpack, opened the door and left, slamming it shut behind him.

Taekwoon lifted his head to peer past the kitchen island at the hallway on the far wide of it. He frowned, conflicted. If he rested any longer he would likely sleep without realising it, and then he would be late. And he would make Hakyeon late if he overslept, which was something that just would not do.

He took a deep ragged breath as he hauled himself upright and blinked the tiredness out of his eyes, shaking his head a little to stave off the slumber that was threatening to pull him into the bliss of an afternoon nap.

He shuffled to Hakyeon’s door, meaning to get him to set his alarm so that at least, there was some back up. He pushed it open and stuck his head inside.

“Has Hongbin always been this sassy-“

He stopped, any sleepiness falling away.

Hakyeon was lying on the bed, crying.

Hongbin

Hakyeon turned his face away, thoroughly mortified that he had been caught, by Taekwoon, of all people, like this, today.

“Ugh, indigestion,” he muttered stupidly into his pillow, trying not to sniffle, then giving up and sniffing hard, wishing Taekwoon would just turn tail and leave.

Taekwoon’s hesitation seemed palpable. He could feel his uncertainty emanating from him in the doorway, and Hakyeon hated it, wished he would just go.

“Hakyeon, you’re-“ he heard him shuffle partway into the room, then stop. Probably with his hand still on the doorknob, he thought bitterly.

“Are you okay?” he heard him ask, and he nodded as he stared at the wall by his bed.

He had meant to talk to Taekwoon. Instead, he wanted him to go. 

When had he lost his nerve?

He blinked, setting a tear running out of the side of his eye into the pillow. He knew when.

At some point during his dream story, he had realised that in order to talk to Taekwoon, he would have to tell him the truth. And in telling him the truth, someone was going to get hurt. Hakyeon just didn’t know who yet.

A part of him knew that it would require him to keep going, no matter how hard it would be to tell it like it is to Taekwoon. And another part of him, this part of him that kept him silent now, wanted Taekwoon to stop asking.

“Hongbin’s gone,” Taekwoon said, closer to the bed now. Hakeyon waited, wondering what that information was a preface to.

Then, he suddenly felt the mattress shift, and Taekwoon’s long limbs enveloping him in a warm, gentle hug as he lay down beside him. He stiffened, totally taken by surprise, and could sense that Taekwoon was hugging him with the same sort of awkward sentiment guys slapped each others’ backs with when they wanted to offer comfort, but didn’t know how to do it without it being… awkward. His arm had come over Hakyeon’s body, but because Hakyeon had been hugging his own arms to his chest as he lay on his side, the only way for Taekwoon to rest it would be to drape his arm over Hakyeon’s arms and hold him.

Instead, Taekwoon held his arm a little away from Hakyeon’s body, using his fingertips to brace himself on the mattress. The fact that he was spooning Hakyeon didn’t make it any more comfortable, and Hakyeon could sense the exact moment when Taekwoon realised that this was not quite the hug he had meant to give him.

This was intimate on so many levels. And so very funny.

Whales

For a moment, Hakyeon let the awkward moment draw out, relishing Taekwoon’s discomfort as his tensed limbs tried not to hug him too much, as he tried to hug him.

Mentally, Hakyeon rolled his eyes.

Even with his spontaneous gesture, he was making a hash of it. 

Funnily, his tears had dried right up.

“You okay back there?” Hakyeon asked, bitterness entering his tone without him meaning it to. “I’ve seen beached whales feel more comfortable.”

He heard Taekwoon give an irritated sigh, then after a moment, was surprised to feel him relax, his whole body leaning into him as he let his arm fully rest across Hakyeon’s torso and chest. His warm hand grasped Hakyeon’s wrist and pulled him closer to his chest.

Hakyeon gave an involuntary hoot of surprise.

“Are you okay, Hakyeon-ssi?” Taekwoon asked, quietly. He felt himself go still, as Taekwoon’s breath soft and warm against the back of his neck, seemed to send warmth throughout his body.

Hakyeon was quiet, relishing this still and small moment. He closed his eyes, feeling like the best thing in the world right now would be to fall asleep like this, with silly, concerned and oblivious Taekwoon holding him close and asking if he was okay.

He felt his breath slowing, and could sense Taekwoon’s body responding to the slumberous mood that seemed to descend on them. He listened to Taekwoon’s breath slowing, his inhales soft and quiet, his exhales short and interspersed with random humphs of a tired carer.

Hakyeon didn’t want to answer Taekwoon’s question, and was thankful he was on the verge of sleeping. A few more minutes, and they could just let the sweet oblivion of sleep take them.

He felt Taekwoon’s grasp loosening, and let himself relax completely, finally letting go of the tension of his morning’s worries, and falling into sleep.

Dance

Hakyeon awoke to find himself still in Taekwoon’s arms. He stirred, wondering how he would extract himself from his embrace without waking him. Then he paused, thinking that this may be the last time he would be in this position, at least, one initiated by Taekwoon. He lay there, blinking into wakefulness, and thinking of what he wanted to speak to him about.

Do you just not know?

He could imagine Taekwoon blustering in denial, trying hard to find a way to say no and no thanks without hurting him, and in the process making it worse.

Having Taekwoon be concerned for him right now meant a lot, but Hakyeon was sure that this hug was simply meant to appease him. 

Taekwoon had always been like that. No matter how annoying or in his face Hakyeon had ever been, Taekwoon always somehow, just let him. It looked like indifference, but when he thought about how the others reacted to his behaviour, he realised that only Taekwoon was letting him be like that, never protesting.

He never responded, either.

Hakyeon had always felt that this was a one-sided dance.

And that was what Hakyeon needed to clear up, now, after Taekwoon had asked him in tears, if he was leaving him too.

Bed

“Where are the ahjussis?” Ravi asked Hongbin as he dropped his bag on the bench.

“Back in bed and sleeping off lunch I hope,” Hongbin answered gleefully.

“Children! Children, time for warm ups!” Ken shrieked from the centre of the dance studio, doing deep squats and checking out his reflection in the mirror.

“Wow, fine form, Hyung,” Hyuk observed, his lip curled as Ken arched his back just a little more obscenely as he dipped.

“You will break something if you keep doing that,” Hongbin snickered.

“More Starlight hearts I hope!” Ken shrilled, waggling his butt.

“Ugh, someone give me some salt to take the edge off this saccharine shit,” Hongbin laughed.

“You love it the most, Hongbin-ssi, I’ve noticed how you always have something to say about me,” Ken said over his shoulder tartly as he walked back to his bag. Hongbin giggled, prompting Ravi to giggle too.

“Cute.” “Vomit.” They said at the same time.

Dartman

Later, at break, they had all walked to a nearby eatery to grab some sustenance. Seated around a large table along with a few of the staff, they discussed their progress as they waited on their meals.

“Once the Hyungs get here we can go over more of the details.”

“We need N’s feedback on what is missing. Some more mystique, something swashbucklingly romantic and hot,” one of their managers interjected.

Four heads swerved to look at him.

“Are you saying we don’t have what it takes to give that, without N Hyung showing us what to do?” Ken asked.

“We want to see Zorro, masked and sexy and hot. Right now all we’re getting is Ninja Turtles. Sorry.”

Ken gasped theatrically while Ravi slammed his chopsticks down on the table. Hongbin almost spurted water into his glass. Hyuk shook his head sombrely.

“We all know N Hyung is less like D’Artagnan and more like… like Dartman!” Ken blustered.

Hongbin giggled as the manager looked at Ken with great pity.

“And yet he has to show you how it’s done, so what does that say about you?” he drawled.

Ken opened his mouth to protest, then crumbled, lifting his drink to take gulpfuls of water.

Ravi guffawed, half tickled and half in protest that the manager really thought they needed N to show them how to be more Zorro.

“Anyway, who’s Zorro?” Hyuk asked, pointedly avoiding the manager’s glare.

Tea

Hongbin lay on the studio floor and listened to Ravi trying to read out tweets by fans in english.

“They keep saying that’s the tea,” he muttered. “I don’t understand.”

“When do they say it? It must be slang or something, not literal,” Hyuk said from his corner.

“It looks like whenever there is something going on. But sometimes when nothing is happening.”

“That’s the tea? Like, it must be served hot to someone you like? To appease them?”

“But why does it all seem so angry?”

“Maybe you serve it hot, like a pile of poop, to someone you hate.”

“It’s pretend, it’s a thing,” Hyuk yelled.

“Why pretend to be angry when you can actually just be nice?” 

“SHUT UP.”

“Yeah, it’s just humour. Very dry.”

Hongbin smiled, stretching.

“You look happy. WHY?” Ken called from his seat.

“Nothing. You guys know that Leo Hyung had a nightmare last night?”

Ravi and Hyuk looked up. Ken shook his head.

“If I wasn’t playing online, I was sleeping.”

“You mean if you weren’t losing online-“

“I WAS SLEEPING.”

“How do you know?” Ravi asked.

“I was awake and thought I heard him laughing. Turns out he was crying,” Hongbin answered.

“Did he say what it was about?” Hyuk asked, re-lacing his sneakers and standing to come to the centre.

“Something about being stuck somewhere he didn’t like, but feeling too scared to move. It made him feel sad.”

Hyuk and Ravi looked at each other.

“Wouldn’t it be scary if it was a nightmare? Why was he sad?” Ken asked.

Hongbin smiled, staring up at the ceiling.

“Better than being frightened, I guess.”

Bookstore

Hakyeon felt Taekwoon take a deep breath, and guessed that he might be awake now. He turned to peer at him over his shoulder.

Taekwoon looked at him blearily. He stared at Hakyeon for a moment, then went to move away. Hakyeon caught his arm.

“What is this?” he asked, quietly.

Taekwoon glanced down at the hand on his arm. Hakyeon could see him almost say the obvious, but he stopped himself, blinking as he stared just a little too long at it.

“Just making sure you’re okay,” he finally mumbled, looking back at him briefly.

“Thanks for that,” Hakyeon said, staring Taekwoon in the eye. He noted that for once, Taekwoon had the grace to take his line of questioning seriously, and wasn’t avoiding or deflecting as usual.

After all, he was the one who had lain next to him to give him a hug, and not at Hakyeon’s behest or insistence.

“A simple check would have done the job,” Hakyeon said.

Taekwoon nodded and leaned back so that he was lying on his back, so Hakyeon let go of his arm.

They stared up at the ceiling.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just letting out the feelings. What about you?” Hakyeon asked.

“I’m fine,” Taekwoon anwered.

Hakeyon snorted and shook his head. Taekwoon noticed.

“You don’t think I’m fine?”

Now it was Hakyeon’s turn to restrain himself from saying something cheesy. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to smile. 

Do I think you are fine?

“You are like a great big bookstore, but all the good stuff gets kept in the back, and all I get to see is the dumb update papers and outdated comedy books.”

“Huh?” Taekwoon said. Hakyeon turned on his side to face him, deciding that he would have some fun while he could.

“And you know how much I like to read,” he whispered intensely. Hakyeon watched with satisfaction as Taekwoon’s cheeks flushed. He drew the moment out, relishing Taekwoon’s discomfort.

“So… I am sad because you won’t give me the good stuff. And you are sad because…” Hakyeon slowed, hoping that Taekwoon would fill in the blanks.

Nothing. Of course not. Just that tiny, tiny fear in his eyes that he thought he kept so well masked.

Hakyeon sighed. Flirting, innuendo, humour, heat… all the best weapons he thought he had in his arsenal, were so dismally ineffective with Taekwoon. Again, he had to take the driest, most direct route with him.

“You are sad because your frightening nightmare was about not being able to leave a place you wanted to leave, even though you wanted to. Does that sound about right?”

Taekwoon blinked, his expression changing.

“Yeah.”

Eyes

Hakyeon rolled his eyes at Taekwoon and flopped back onto his back.

“Well, here we are then.”

He could almost hear the cogs of Taekwoon’s mind turning as he began to grasp the meaning of their conversation.

He will get it.

He will know.

He will run.

Or…

Hakyeon hoped against hope that Taekwoon’s initial spontaneous show of comfort that seemed so natural and easy would ameliorate whatever anxiety it was that held him back.

He wondered if, now that he knew Taekwoon understood, he could take the lead and not have it backfire on him, or have his overtures, not that he felt he had ever been absolutely overt, would sink away unnoticed or ignored.

“Would it be alright if I hold your hand?” he murmured.

Taekwoon shifted.

“Why do you have to ask, it’s always alright.”

“This is different, and you know why. Will it be alright?”

Hakyeon stilled, waiting. Taekwoon seemed to take forever, his breath sounding a little forced.

Then finally, he spoke.

“Yes.”

Friendship

Hakyeon immediately took Taekwoon’s hand and held it, laying them between their bodies. 

He closed his eyes, happy. Oh, so happy.

He could sense Taekwoon’s stiff limbs gradually relaxing.

Not going to jump you and scare you away, he thought to himself. Theirs was a friendship that was so deep that this could potentially harm the trust they had for each other for so long. No, jumping Taekwoon could come later, much much later, he thought, making himself giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Taekwoon asked.

“I am. I am so funny,” Hakyeon replied.

He heard Taekwoon click his tongue with disdain.

“Can I-“

“Yeess,” Taekwoon replied instantly, his tone irritated and long-suffering.

Hakyeon immediately rolled over and hugged him, smiling as Taekwoon shut his eyes and laughed.

LeChest

Ken lifted his head as he lay on one of the rehearsal room benches.

“When are mom and dad coming? I’m getting tired.”

“As soon as Hakyeon hyung works out his lesinset,” Hyuk laughed.

“Ugh, stop!” Ravi groaned.

The door suddenly swung open and Hakyeon walked in, followed by Taekwoon and their stylist. Hongbin smiled at how quickly everyone shut up.

He and the others watched for any giveaway clues that either of them had heard their conversation, but Hakyeon was pokerfaced, and Taekwoon… well, one could never tell with Taekwoon, whether he had any inkling.

The stylist gathered them up, whipping out a measuring tape to take their body measurements.

“Why do we have to do this? We have been dieting for two thousand years,” Ken complained.

“We always do, you know that,” the stylist shot back.

“Yeah, in case your working out actually built some muscles, Jaehwannie,” Hakyeon cocked his eyebrows at him.

After Ken was done, Taekwoon stood in front fo the stylist as Hongbin came to stand by Hakyeon, who was helping her write the measurements down as she called them out.

“Hyung, everything okay?” Hongbin asked quietly, knowing they were out of earshot of the others.

“Fifty two!” Shouted the stylist. Hakyeon wrote it down on the little diagram of body parts on the paper.

“What do you mean, why would anything not be okay?” Hakyeon murmured distractedly. Hongbin stuttered.

“Oh, oh I just thought-“

“Ninety six!” The stylist interjected again.

“LeChest, ninety six,” Hakyeon mumbled, writing it down.

Hongbin smiled, not saying anymore, and as he moved away, he saw Hakyeon smile too.


End file.
